Where did time go?

A peacefully, light fulled the worlds now, as the stuggle for survial had been over, at least for now. The sound of waves were soon, heard, on a small island called, Destiny Island. As seen now was an over view of the idea, lots of trees and sand. A closer look, you could see small homes and even people. Even closer, in the beach area, you could see a boy about fifteen years of age, laying close to the water. He had brown spiky hair, and his clothing were, very easy to spot. The boys name was Sora, the Keymaster. Sora, had a huge smile on his face, because it had been a few weeks since he had got back to his home, and everything died down. Infact, this made Sora feel he had been missing something. He soon sat up and began to think, quite a bit. He rubbed his chin, as the time slowly passed.

Within, minutes Sora had snapped his fingers, because he knew that he had forgetten something. "Riku! Kairi!" He yelled out his best friends names and ran to find them. "Guess we fogot to do something! We made a proisme!" Sora was excited, because he had remembered that Riku, Kairi, and himself did not get the chance to see the world together. Yes, they each got to see it, but not together. Well, at least the major of it was apart. Sora knew the two would agree to try this again, and hopfully nothing would get in their way. "RIKU! KAIRI! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!" Sora yelled out, running around the island looking for them.

He stopped at the spot where the first started the raft. "This brought back a lot of memories." He sunk into the ground and sighed. "I'll just wait from them here!" He crossed his arms and stuck his tounge out like he was looking right at them. This made him laugh, because he could not be mad at the two. He soon laid down and looked at the sky. "Finally, our own adventure!" He said with a smile.

ooc: Sorry it's so short, couldn't think of much.

((Not a problem, was going to make a topic like this myself, but you beat me to it.))

Riku ambled up to his friend, squatting down next to his fellow Keymaster.

"A promise, eh? What, exactly, would that be? No, wait, don't tell me; wait Till Kairi gets her slow butt down here."

Flashing a quick grin, Riku stretched back, relaxing, wondering to himself what promise he could be talking about. Well, he'd find out soon enough, eh?

((Sorry, sorry, please forgive my lateness. I've had real life issues and . . . well, you guys probably don't want to hear about mood swings and breakdowns. *sigh* Needless to say, I've been busy. I didn't even know rp had started.))

Kairi walked up, looking at her two best friends in all the worlds. "Did I hear someone say something about a promise?" She swatted playfully at Riku's head. "I am not slow, okay?"

She stood, one foot resting on the toe behind the other, her balance tilted slightly with one arm behind her back and the hand hooked around the other elbow. "So, what's going on?"

He smiled at the arrival of Riku, happy to see he was here, and he could finally talk to the both of them. It hadn't been like that since, more than a year ago, after they wanted to build the raft. That was the day, everything change. He then saw Kairi arrive, and he smiled even bigger and waved at her. "Well, I'll tell you guys, soon." He looked up and smiled at the sky. He soon jumped up and looked around the Island, and then out to the ocean. He soon pointed out, to the ocean. "Remember the raft? We never did go anywhere together. We can finally make our own story, outside of this Island. We still have a lot to see together. That was the prosmie." He laughed and remembered back to a time where he was looking for the two.

"We spent that time, looking for each other. And we only found each twice out of the whole time. That doesn't count as traveling together. We did see each other, but we still need to start our own story." He sighed and sat back down, and put his hands over his head, and sat them on top of it. "We are older and stronger know, we might meet some more nasty people, but us three, are strong. We won't have any trouble." He jumped up again and nodded at the two. "So what do you guys say?" He looked very excited to take this trip, and it was almost like he would not take no for an anwser. Sora began to think about all the old friends he would meet. Donlad, Goofy, King Mickey, Roxas. Sora thought and then went back to Riku and Kairi, he giggled a little.

Kairi looked out at the ocean. "I remember the raft." She turned silent for a moment and then made herself smile at both of them, choosing not to be sad at how much time they had spent apart. "Our own story, huh? I think . . . I think I would like that." She smile turned slightly impish. "Soooo, did you two either settle who was going to be Captain?"

((srsly guys at least 2-3 paragraph minimum of at least 4-5 lines))

thank you

((Alright, understood now, sorry for ranting at you earlier Enigma.))

Riku leapt to his feet, a flash of his old grin on his face.

"You've got a point there, Sora. We did spend most of our time searching, so a trip of our own seems like a good idea to me. Any suggestions for our first stop?"

Riku's gin, after hearing Kairi's question about the captain, darkened for a minute, before flashing back, more brilliant than before.

"I've got an idea, guys. How about a quick match? Winner's the captain. It'll be just like old times, eh, Sora? Maybe you can beat me, this time."

Riku looked out to sea, watching the waves gently lap the shore, reminding him, once again, of the past they had shared, before he opened that Door. Renewed guilt washed over him; If only he had never opened that door, none of this would have happened, and the three of them would be off on a nice, relaxing adventure, no Organization or Maleficent to get in their way.

With a snap of his fingers, Riku turned back to Sora, an idea forming in his mind. Pulling, from one of his over-sized pockets, a Paopu fruit, Riku tossed it to Sora.

"Another old promise we haven't kept; winner take all sound good to you?"

Riku laughed, settling into a ready stance, his eyes sparkling at the prospect of a fight with Sora; It'd been quite a while since the two of them last sparred, and Riku wanted to see how strong Sora had gotten.

Sora looked at Riku when he spoke and afterward he nodded and smiled. "Well, we could try Disney's Castle, but would a raft really work to get there?" Sora sat down again, and sighed. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, We've made it through worse. We can do this, NO SWEAT!"Sora yelled and jumped up in the air and heled out his hand. His keyblade appeared and he laughed a bit. However, he did not look ready to fight at this moment. "I want to know what you mean by, winner takes all. I hope it's just about the raft." He smiled and then pointed his keyblade at Riku.

"Alright you got yourself a fight. But this time, I will win, and I will name the raft!" He laughed, as his still held his keyblade towards Riku. "Well, I guess you can come at first. I'm not really sure how we should start this." Sora thought back to most of his fights and he was really never the first to attack, unless it was someone that mad him angry. He had a lot of fights and one of which was agasint Riku. That fight was probably the hardest battle of his life.

He also thought back to his very last battle, this battle, he fought with Riku. They had both grown since they had left the island around the age of fourteen. Riku had beat him all the time, but now it was Sora's turn to show Riku up. "I've changed my mind, I'll go first!" Sora yelled out and smiled, as he ran at Riku with his Keyblade in both hands, behind him. As soon as he was close enough he jumped in the air and brought down his Keyblade at Riku. "You better be ready!"

Kairi watched the two boys prepare for their duel and sighed softly. Yep, nothing had changed. Nothing at all. In some ways it was like the last year or so hadn't happened. They were still friends. The best friends in all the worlds.

Ah, but there it was. They had changed.

Before the Heartless had invaded Riku would never have lost his grin so quickly, or so sadly, at an innocent joke by her about their rivalry. Before the Heartless had invaded Sora would not have stood so certain of himself, even against . . . especially against his friend. Before the Heartless . . . she would not have felt this way about both of them.

They were both her friends. She cared about both of them. And she didn't want to lose either of them, no matter what. She was not going to be the prize they fought over any longer. She just didn't know how to say it without changing things even more.

For everything that hadn't changed, one more thing had. Was this what it meant . . . to grow up? She wasn't ready for that yet.

Kairi took a deep breath and willed herself to forget her worries. Tomorrow would take care of itself and yesterday was gone. She smiled as she took a position outside the presumptive dueling circle to watch. "Go, Sora! Go, Riku!"

Some things hadn't changed.

In a flash, Riku's Way to the Dawn was in his hand, clashing against the Kingdom Key. Leaping back quickly, Riku skidded through the sand, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Riku grinned, totally focused on the match, now; nothing could break his concentration.

"C'mon, Sora, let's see just how much stronger you've gotten; a simple attack like that's not gonna do much. Someone who defeated almost the entire Organization single-handedly should at least know a few new tricks."

Riku darted forward, feinting to the right before slashing Way to the Dawn towards Sora's left side, his right leg coming up to kick at Sora's right side, aiming at his kidney; no one had ever accused him of fighting fair.

Sora smiled at the fact that Kairi was not only cheering for himself, but also Riku./ It was good not to have a favorite, and all just be best friends. Sora's Kingdom Key clashed with Riku's Way to the Dawn, and he hovered in the air for a few moments and then jumped back. "Hey, Riku, that was my first attack, you better not count me out because of it. And just wait till you do see the tricks I've learned." Sora laughed and glared at Riku. This glare was more a friendly stare.

Soon, Sora dashed at Riku, as fast as he could, and he noticed Riku doing the same thing. Sora wondered what Riku was trying to do, so he let him. Riku's foot came at Sora, as well as a strike from his keyblade. He jumped in the air, and the two keyblades clashed. Sora got more lift from this and stay in the air a bit longer. "Well, it looks like, someone doesn't wanna play fair." Sora laughed and then aimed his keyblade at Riku.

"Freeze!" Sora yelled out, as a bolt of ice, flew towards Riku. "Well, I can not play fair too." Sora smiled as the bolt of ice got closed to Riku. "And you should have more tricks too, after all you almost beat me, almost." Sora laughed as he teased Riku. Sora was glad that he was able to have a chance to have a friendly spar with Riku, and not a battle to the death.

Riku grinned, watching Sora's mid-air acrobatics, his grin faltering as Sora fired the spell. Reacting quickly, Riku back-flipped, placing his feet against the ice bolt, using it to push off, slashing at Sora as he soared past him, blade singing through the air, jacket rippling as the air pressure blew it around his body.

"Nice try, Sora, if you were any closer that would've hit for sure."
Riku laughed, hurling his Keyblade at Sora, tip first, the blade whistling through the air at high speed; He wasn't going to go easy on Sora, regardless of his friendship. It wasn't his fault if Sora had neglected his training.

Kairi actually held her breath in concern when Sora released his spell. It was silly, she knew, to be genuinely concerned that this was anything other than a fun game to them. It was supposed to be simply a game.

They were both so important to her.

But then Riku used the blade of Ice to launch himself away from it and she started breathing again. They still bantered; they still laughed. They were both still whole.

And they were both so good at what they did. So much better than she could possibly be.

She actually hoped there was a way for both to win, even though she knew that it wasn't going to happen. She watched expectantly for the next move in the game the two boys were playing.

Sora noticed Kairi's worry for the both of them. "Kairi, it's not good to hold your breath, you may get hurt." He smiled at her, as he saw his attack miss. "Aw, you dodged it, good move though." He smiled and ran towards Riku. Riku then threw his keyblade at Sora, and right then he knew that he could not get hit by this. As the keyblade came close to him, Sora pushed his forward and hit Riku's, right before it was about to his him. "Nice try, but it is going to take a lot more to take me out!" He yelled as he ran towards Riku.

Right before Sora reach Riku, he jumped in the air and did a flip, in midair. Sora had planned out this attack, right before he fired off his ice attack. He not planned Riku throwing his keyblade, but it did not mess things up at all. Sora ended up behind Riku and aimed his keyblade at Riku's back and strike at it. Sora had his back turned at Riku, so he could not see if he hit him or not. "You better not be finished, Riku." Sora said jumping in the air, so he would not be open for an attack.

ooc:Sorry, this came so late, I have been busy.

The all-too-familiar sound of a Corridor of Darkness opening was without doubt picked up on by Kairi. As it creator stepped out, and the Corridor closed behind him, his high-pitched, cartoony voice rang out, after a sigh.

"What are they fighting over this time?" Said the diminutive King with a chuckle. Sora and Riku, friends though they were, were always fighting each other in one way or another. It was amusing, no doubt, but there were times it was a bit trying.

Mickey looked up to the Princess of Heart with kind eyes.

"It's good to see you again, Kairi. Doing well, I hope?"


(Oshi- The King is here!)

Kairi smiled at King Mickey. It was hard not to smile at him, he could look so kind and sweet that no one knew what a warrior hid beneath his exterior. She shrugged eloquently in response to his question. "Oh, what they're always fighting over, which one is better at just about anything."

She flushed a touch at his attention. "I am well, just hoping the battle does not go further than simple competition. Sora suggested a journey of our own, like we had wished for before we discovered keyblades and battles more real than this. They want to decide which of them will be captain."

She looked back at the two battling boys. "I just wish I weren't so helpless." Her words were barely whispered, almost too faint to hear, as if she weren't aware that she had spoken aloud.

...Whispering...


Doesn't work too well with someone whose ears are the size of dinner plates.

Mickey laughed, in spite of trying not to.

"You think Sora and Riku started out as master swordsmen? They train. Y'know, I might be able to teach you a few things, if you're interested!"


...An idle thought occurred to him. ...Captainship?

"Fighting over who gets to run things... ...Funny. I'd figured they were fighting over you."

Another laugh, this one being the chuckle of someone who'd seen the same old story play out a good few times.

OOC: Okay, I'm not trying to be rude or lazy, but could someone give me a quick run down of what's going on in the topic. I'd like to joinz. thanks.

((OOC: Okay, the events stand as thus: Sora wants to explore the worlds the way the three friends had intended to do back before the Heartless invasion. Kairi and Riku are all for the exploring, since on the previous journeys away from Destiny Islands they tended to all take their separate paths. That led to the natural question of whether or not Sora and Riku had decided the role of Captain between them. Riku, in a fit of who knows what's going on in his head, brought up that *other* old argument that never got settled, just which of them is going to have the chance to offer Kairi a paopu fruit. We'll see how that works out. Sora and Riku commence to dueling, Kairi watching, genuinely concerned because they are both so dear to her. Sora slung a Blizzard, Riku used it as a jumping off point, there was something about a thrown Keyblade in there but the sequence of attacks is off somewhere, so it's stalled. King Mickey showed up, asking what the situation was and Kairi is talking to him while she sits on the sidelines because she doesn't think she can actually *use* that Keyblade Riku made for her. That help?))

Kairi flushed a deeper red as she realized that the King had heard her. "I don't know . . . I just don't want to hold them back."

At the King's other comment, about them seeming to fight over her, her expression actually became not quite so self-conscious. She almost looked . . . frustrated. "It does seem that way, doesn't it? Why do they have to fight? Why do things have to change? Why . . . why does one winning mean that the other must lose?"

...He couldn't help it. Mickey laughed. He laughed loud and hard, no doubt enough to catch the attention of the Dueling Keymasters.

Regaining his composure, he wiped a tear from his eye, and explained himself.

"Kairi, they're teenage boys!"

Making a square in front of his face with his thumbs and index fingers, he continued.

"They see the world through a window about this big!" He said, looking at her through his hands with one eye.

"They're going to fight, and make things unnecessarily difficult, and just generally do things that're gonna make you stop and stare in confusion. But, y'know what?"

At this point, his face got serious. Not life-or-death serious, more akin to pearl-of-wisdom serious.

"The bond that the three of you share is like nothing I've ever seen. Nothing that strong is ever easy to handle, but its always worth it."

A soft laugh escaped his lips.

"Believe me, nothing about it's easy! Minnie'd have a story or two to tell about some of the stunts I pulled in my younger days!"

...Unfortunately, that was true. He'd had, time and again, some adventures he'd rather forget.

Kairi flushed a bright red all the way to the hairline at the volume of King Mickey's laugh. This was embarrassing enough, did he have to make it worse? For a moment she sincerely wished that she had more hair so that she could hide her burning face behind it. Why did adults never understand keeping their voices down?

She was afraid to look too directly at Sora and Riku, afraid that they would be staring at her, and at the same time she wondered if they were. She wanted to squirm at the attention. She wanted to hit all of them. She wanted to hug all of them.

Why couldn't she just make up her mind?

She forced herself to lift her flaming face and look at her friends. Might as well see what the King's laugh had done.

((OOC: Would I be allowed to join because currently I am in Hollow Bastion waiting for someone, and I could say I traveled or something))

((Mmkay, just going to go with Sora's "changes", I guess...))

Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and twisted his torso around, bringing his blade to a screeching stop against the Kingdom Key. Just as he turned, and was about to rush Sora, he heard a loud, tinkling laugh that sounded familiar; King Mickey?

Riku banished his keyblade, and, as he turned to face the two, took in Kairi's burning face. Suddenly, it clicked; He realized what they must be talking about. Mickey was, and always would be, a meddler. He just couldn't leave things as they were.

Riku turned, and, waving to Sora, a signal that they would, for now, postpone the competition, jogged over to Mickey and Kairi, kicking up sand as he went.

Riku grinned and waved at his friend Mickey, honestly glad to see him. His grin quickly cut off, however, as he turned to Kairi, his face now serene yet grim, a bittersweet half-smile. Riku pulled out the Paopu fruit from earlier, and whispered directly into Kairi's ear, softly enough, hopefully, that not even the King's oversized ears could pick it up.

"Here, Kairi. In case you ever decide to make your choice; I'm not going to force you to do something you're against; you're not some prize to fight over. You're more important to me, to us, than that. I'm not going to give up, and neither is Sora. So, the choice is yours to make; We've gone through too much to stay 'just friends', Kairi, so you have to make your choice, and make it soon."

Riku turned to his friend, Mickey, and virtually tackled him, hugging him tightly.

"Mickey! Where've you been? I've missed ya. What are you doing here? Wait, it better not be MORE trouble, We just got back home."

Riku set his friend down, still grinning; he was really glad to see his friend here again. Although, his arrival usually signaled bad news. Riku was, understandably, cautious.

OOC: Mrs. Grizzley: thanks for the skinny on it. I might join a little later, I'm really busy on here, lol.

Kairi felt like her heart simultaneously stopped beating entirely and yet pounded in her ears so loudly that she couldn't hear. She looked down at her hands, at the fruit that sat within them, teasing her, tormenting her. All of her frustration at both of the boys vanished before the truth that rung louder in her ears than the deafening heartbeat.

Riku was right. She had to choose. They would continue to fight and they would continue to challenge each other until it tore their friendship apart and they became enemies instead of the best friends in all the worlds.

But how could the friendship survive making that choice? She didn't want to lose her friends, either of them.

She had to choose. She didn't want to choose.

She . . . didn't know how to choose.

She clutched the fruit in one hand as she pushed herself to her feet and took off running away from the beach, her eyes blinded by sudden tears. There was a room, a little room in the top of a tree. She would go there when she needed to think. It was still there. Still waiting for her.

She reached the room and dropped the fruit on the floor as she fell beside it, dissolving into tears.

((OOC: Aaaand that is not what I expected. *sigh* Unfortunately, this would make a great chance for someone sinister to insert themselves into the thread with a kidnapping plot. *grin* Do we even have anyone sinister at the moment? Anyway, barring sinister intervention, she'll be back down in a couple posts with her choice made, in her mind at least.))